This application relates to real-time search result suggestions.
Google developed an application called “Google Suggest.” Other web sites, such as Ask.com, Yahoo.com and Kayak.com, offer similar features. After a few letters of a search query are typed in, a drop down list of possible search terms appears. In addition, spelling corrections are suggested. The suggestions are typically based on the most popular search terms having the same word(s) or combination of letters.
Examples of patents relating to search queries include Microsoft U.S. Pat. No. 7,254,774 provides a mechanism provides search suggestion based on spelling and search query logs. As another example, Amazon.com, Inc. U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,213 provides an auto completion mechanism for search strings using a dynamically updated database, which is based on popularity of database items.